Dear All, I have a couple of AI-related announcements from the Department of Digital Humanities at King’s College London: a talk on Ecological AI and a position paper on Creative AI. *1. Ecological AI* The Creative AI Lab and the Computational Humanities Research Group in the Department of Digital Humanities at King’s have the pleasure to invite you to this talk and discussion on the role of the humanities in imagining AI futures by philosopher of technology Adam Nocek from Arizona State University. 15 March 2023, 17:00 to 18:30 Strand Campus, Bush House (SE) 1.01 Free to attend but places are limited so please register: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/events/ecological-ai The premise of this talk is that we need to think about artificial intelligence (AI) as a complex ecosystem, and that doing so requires navigating thorny disputes in the theoretical humanities and social sciences concerning the autonomy and environmental dependency of machine learning algorithms. Further, the talk contends that steering this course requires entering into a series of debates concerning AI and its metaphysical, political and ecological existence. The proposal for an ecologically complex view of machine learning outlined in this talk will take shape against the backdrop of various tensions and dead ends that arise in two competing theoretical discourses: the first stresses the autonomy of computational rationality, the second emphasizes the dependency and impact these algorithmic systems have on planetary systems. Along the way, the talk will trace the ways in which these different conceptual projects also become legible through divergent but equal investments in Karl Marx’s work on automation. But ultimately, certain intractable problems regarding machine learning and its relation to the interiority and exteriority of algorithmic systems will give us permission to search for a revised conception of ecological complexity in the work of Conrad Hal Waddington, Lynn Margulis, and Alfred North Whitehead. Such a reframing will also seed new potentials for political critique, and also reaffirm the central importance of the theoretical humanities for engaging AI futures. Speaker bio Adam Nocek is Associate Professor of Philosophy of Technology and Science and Technology Studies at the School of Arts, Media + Engineering, Arizona State University. He is the Founding Director of the Center for Philosophical Technologies (CPT) and Editor of Techniques Journal. He is the author of Molecular Capture: The Animation of Biology (2021) and is working on his next monograph, Governmental Design: On Algorithmic Autonomy. Website: http://adamnocek.com *2. Creative AI * Creative AI Lab (a collaboration between Serpentine's R&D Platform and Department of Digital Humanities) has the pleasure to announce the publication of our position paper, ‘Creative—Critical—Constructive—Collaborative—Computational: Towards a C5 model in Creative AI’. The paper analyses creative activity enabled by machine learning and recognised under the banner of ‘Creative AI’. The theoretical discussion is anchored in critical reflection on the activities in which we have been involved as part of our Lab. The paper proposes a C5 model (‘Creative—Critical—Constructive—Collaborative—Computational’) bringing together technical research and conceptual inquiry, while shifting focus from artefacts to their wider contexts, processes and infrastructures. It also outlines directions for future research on creativity and AI. The paper is available open-access: https://bit.ly/creativeAI_23 Best, Joanna -- Joanna Zylinska Professor of Media Philosophy + Critical Digital Practice King's College London Department of Digital Humanities http://www.joannazylinska.net